Ken Hall: It's not what you know, and studies back it up

Little Prince George, the future king of England, made his debut at a time when every week brings yet another story showing that what you become later in life starts with choosing the right parents.

Ken Hall

Little Prince George, the future king of England, made his debut at a time when every week brings yet another story showing that what you become later in life starts with choosing the right parents.

A column by Miles Corak, professor of economics at the University of Ottawa, analyzed how the income levels of their fathers determined the eventual success of children born in the United States.

Half of those born to fathers in the bottom 10 percent of earners will remain at that level and they are unlikely to leave the bottom third. At the other extreme, more than a quarter born to fathers in the top 10 percent stay there and another quarter fall no lower than the top third.

He focuses on the income of fathers because women were not as likely to work several generations ago. Recent developments — the increased participation of women in the workforce, especially in professions, and the tendency of people to marry others earning similar incomes — are likely to reinforce the trend.

My mother used to tell me it's not what you know, it's who you know, and the studies keep backing her up. Those at the top have the college degrees that are a basic requirement for the best-paying jobs in a highly specialized economy. At those schools, they make the friends who matter.

Another column by Sean F. Reardon, a professor of education and sociology at Stanford, shows how those at the top are working to protect their turf and invest in the family future.

"High-income families are increasingly focusing their resources — their money, time and knowledge of what it takes to be successful in school — on their children's cognitive development and educational success. They are doing this because educational success is much more important than it used to be, even for the rich."

That means the "academic gap is widening because rich students are increasingly entering kindergarten much better prepared to succeed in school than middle-class students. This difference in preparation persists through elementary and high school."

All of this is becoming increasingly challenging at a time when preschool and kindergarten are being reduced or eliminated, when summer enrichment programs are struggling for funding and when schools are less likely or able to give their students foreign language training and exposure to the arts.

That diminishes even the fleeting difference that schools can make. Another study quoted by Reardon shows that "there is some evidence that achievement gaps between high- and low-income students actually narrow during the nine-month school year, but they widen again in the summer months."

After school, it gets harder, as Corak wrote. "According to a 2006 study, up to half of jobs are found through families, friends or acquaintances, with higher wages being paid to those who found jobs through 'prior generation male relatives' who actually knew the potential employer or served as a reference."

In other words, choose your parents wisely and go to work for your uncle.